


Farewell but not Forever

by shadowshrike



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Blue Lion Path, Gen, Missing Scene, Post-Time Skip, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 15:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20084296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowshrike/pseuds/shadowshrike
Summary: Claude just wanted to get away without any more complications. Trust one of his old classmates to make things difficult.





	Farewell but not Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers ahead: 
> 
> This takes place post Chapter 19 on the Blue Lion path. I was really disappointed at how quickly Claude flits in and out of the story with very little explanation, which is where this fic came from. Sorry if Claude is bit OOC here - I haven't played through GD yet, so I'm basing this off of his BL portrayal.

Claude hated to miss a good party, and he’d likely never see one better than a victory bash thrown by two nations finding hope for the first time in half a decade. Houses united, a king returned, the Empire banished from their streets: there was much to celebrate. The laughter and drinks would make it easy to forget everything else. 

That’s why Claude liked parties so much. Without moments of living without restraint, the bitterness of life could overwhelm a person. Dwelling on regrets made for a miserable existence. The blue-eyed king who still preferred skulking in darkness to joining in his subjects’ revelry served as a stern reminder of that truth.

As did his own sudden disappearance, Claude supposed with a wry smile as the sound of lively drums and raucous laughter faded behind him. Better to leave now than face the goodbyes in the morning. Handing over his bow and territories was supposed to be the end of his responsibilities; he didn’t need people digging their noses into his business or trying to ‘save’ him by convincing him to stay in Fodlan with them. 

He’d made up his mind the second he had sent that messenger in blind faith that obsessively-worried-about-everyone-but-himself Dmitri would get his head fixed enough to come to save his old classmate. Claude couldn’t turn back now. He figured that as long as he made it to the docks before anyone noticed, the war would keep them too busy to miss him. Thankfully, the streets were empty now except for the sound his cape rustling with every footstep. No one in their right mind would wander out in town right now and risk being haunted by the lives lost here today.

“Leaving the festivities so soon? That’s unlike you,” a voice called from the alley to his right, just as his boat to freedom came into view. 

Claude jumped. Dimitri may have lost the aura of a feral wolf prowling the wilderness he remembered from their last meeting, but finding yourself on the wrong end of that one-eyed gaze still made Claude’s neck hair prickle the same way it did when scouting a mist-filled forest teeming with monsters. His heart didn’t need this kind of work out after the close call at the docks earlier.

“And I’ve surprised you, as well,” Dimitri observed. His arms crossed as what might have been a smile curled his lips. “I never thought I’d live to see the day I outwitted the infamous Claude von Riegan.”

Claude forced a laugh so naturally, it almost didn’t sound fake. “I must be losing my touch. Good thing you’ll be leading them now, your Kingliness.”

“Yes, about that…”

The archer warded off Dimitri’s falling expression with a wave of his hand. “I already told you, I have other business to attend to. I was never really suited to lead anyway. That’s always been more your thing.”

“Always, you say…” Dimitri drifted to silence as some morose thought crossed his mind. The eerie silence of an empty city made Claude itch. Thankfully, the king found his voice again before it became unbearable. “I wasn’t intending to ask you to stay a second time. I know first hand there’s no stopping you once you’ve made up your mind.”

“Sensible. That’s what I like about you.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, though the grin that accompanied it suggested otherwise.

Dimitri snorted, “And you are still a charmer. I can see how you kept the Alliance running so long on your own. You know as well as I that I haven’t been ‘sensible’ for quite some time.”

“Is that what this is about? If you wanted to apologize, don’t bother. There’s nothing to be done for the dead now other than to continue living and do what you think is right.”

Claude had meant it to be comforting, or at least no more than a minor barb to remind his old classmate that his cruelty had been forgiven but not forgotten. It wasn’t as though Claude hadn’t anticipated something like this would happen one day. He’d seen from their first meeting how tightly wound the prince was. With what he dug up on Dimitri’s history and how little the prince slept when he was agitated, a spectacular snap was bound to happen. Claude had just thought it would have been yelling at some poor soldier or overextending during a mission, not completely losing his mind after Edelgard’s betrayal.

Regardless, whatever Teach said to him since the last battle seemed to have worked. Still sullen, sure, but in Claude’s opinion, he’d always been that way when he wasn’t hiding behind his work ethic. That nightmare was over, as far as Claude was concerned.

Trust the fretting king to feel otherwise.

“I swear to you, I will not betray the trust you’ve put in me to atone for what I’ve done,” Dimitri vowed. 

The weight of his words was enough to make want Claude to run all over again. He cringed and shook his head at the other’s serious stance. “Don’t say things like that. I don’t want to be responsible for your ‘atonement’ or whatever it is you feel you need to do. I’m just telling you to follow your heart now that you’ve got it back.”

Another half-smile, though this one was sadder. “Of course. I’m sorry for burdening you with my troubles.”

“It’s not a big deal. I’ve gotten used to stuff like that over the past few years,” Claude lied. He’d been forced to face more harsh subjects recently than he cared to admit, but he could never get used to it. That’s why he was running away, after all. “If that’s it, then I’ll be on my way…?”

“Actually, that wasn’t why I came here,” Dimitri informed him. He placed himself between Claude and the boat, as if that would be enough to cut off his escape. “You said we’d meet again, correct?”

“Once I’m done with what I need to do, yeah. I think it would be nice to catch up once you guys save the continent and I’ve finished what I need to do.”

“Then I have a request to make of you.” Claude’s eyebrow raised; Dimitri had never asked him for anything other than a fight using every trick he could think of. Surely even he didn’t want a spar at this hour. “When you return, I would like to appoint you as my advisor.”

“....What?”

“I’ve surprised you again. This must be some sort of record.” Claude was too busy gaping like a fish to respond to Dimitri’s laugh. The king continued, “I realize it is a presumptive request, but given the circumstances, I have no other choice. You are uniquely qualified to help me understand the new territories and lords you’ve pledged to the Kingdom.”

“I can send you some names of others who…” Claude started.

Dimitri cut him off by shaking his head, shaggy mane falling over his good eye. “None of them have led those squabbling territories for a full five years. But more importantly, none of them are you.”

“Careful what you say, your Kingliness, or the soldiers might start talking,” Claude drawled. The archer couldn’t resist a rakish wink. 

Dimitri staved off any embarrassment with a soft chuckle. “They will always talk about something. My point is that I need you, not just someone who knows the Alliance. As I said earlier, I could never take the risks you do. I am incapable of deception while you excel at it. I have marveled at your capacity for insight since our early days at the academy...”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m so great,” Claude interjected before Dimitri carried on any longer. The man may have been laughably honest, but somehow that just made him laying it on thick all the more difficult to listen to. “I appreciate the buttering up, but I don’t have all night.” 

“My apologies,” the king sighed. “I didn’t mean to get carried away. The short of it is, your strengths are my weaknesses as a leader. You are easy to talk to, clever, and good at gambling when the odds seem impossible. I am not fool enough to think I can unite so many diverse people without those traits. That is why I need you.”

Never let it be said that Dimitri was a dumb man. Unstable, inflexible, and a try-hard, maybe, but he never failed to keep Claude on his toes. He knew his own faults well (too well in Claude’s opinion - no one should dwell on their failings that much) and strove to fix them. It was part of why Claude felt so comfortable disbanding the Alliance and handing it over to the Kingdom with Dimitri in charge, despite the bout of madness that had plagued his past few years. He wanted to be good with an intensity that made Claude sick to witness.

“I already made it clear I owe you nothing,” Claude challenged, cocking his head.

“I know.”

“But you’re still asking me to be your advisor?”

“I am.”

“You know I never do anything unless it’s in my own self-interest.”

That earned an annoyed huff from Dimitri, “You say that as if you’d tell me what your goals are, so I could make you an appropriate offer. I’ve informed you of my request. What you choose to do with it is up to you.”

At last, the hulking king stepped aside, flanking Claude’s path to freedom like some sort of unkempt guard dog. He didn’t press again or beg for the archer to stay or take the job. He merely watched over his old acquaintance, silent and stoic. Claude hated the feeling of being judged.

Even so, the tiniest smidge of guilt worked its way into his heart. His friends had been okay with him leaving, but he couldn’t pretend he didn’t still feel somewhat responsible for them. Being the advisor to a king,  _ the _ king if everything went to plan, may have sounded like a stuffy gig, but it also would give him more power to do what needed to be done in Fodlan with none of the responsibility he’d had as leader of the Alliance. Assuming he could put up with Dimitri’s bouts of depression and pigheadedness, he’d have the opportunity to scheme to his heart’s content and the resources to carry out his plans. He could guide the future of an entire continent.

That sounded like an acceptably selfish reason to say yes to the job, not that he was about to make it that easy on someone who blindsided him with such a huge responsibility on his way out of town.

Claude took three steps past his old classmate, then paused to speak, “Save me a seat at the table one year from today. You’d better have wrapped this up by then.”

“Is that a yes?”

A grin flashed in the dark. “I’m not giving away my secrets that easily. You’ll just have to wait and see, your Kingliness.”


End file.
